CESTAT Mumbai Bars Revenue From Recovering Education Cesses In Cash After MEIS Scrip Payment

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal has dismissed Revenue appeals seeking to recover Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess in cash from importers. These importers had already paid the amounts using duty credit scrips issued under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), an export incentive programme under India's Foreign Trade Policy that rewarded exporters with duty credits. “The attempt by Revenue to recover the same in cash...

Computer Cabinet Cases Are Not Incomplete Computers; CESTAT Allahabad Quashes Customs Action Against Importer

The Allahabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 5 May held that computer cabinet cases lacking essential components such as a CPU, RAM, and hard disk cannot be treated as incomplete or unfinished computer systems merely on account of the presence of other parts like motherboards, fans, wiring, and power supply units. Judicial Member P.K. Choudhary and Technical Member Rajeev Tandon allowed the appeal by Daya Exports and set aside confiscation of goods,...

CESTAT Ahmedabad Sets Aside Customs Penalty On Rodex Partner As Firm and Partner Can't Both Be Penalised

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal at Ahmedabad has set aside a ₹25 lakh customs penalty imposed on a Rodex International partner, holding that he could not be separately penalised once the partnership firm had already been penalised for the same contravention. It, however, reduced another penalty against him to ₹2 lakh in the same concealment case. “I hold that no separate penalty can be imposed on the appellant under Section 112(a)" of Customs Act. A bench of...

CESTAT Delhi Quashes Tax Demand Against IndiGo Holds Aircraft Generators Attract 18% IGST, Not 28%

The New Delhi bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has quashed tax demands and penalties against InterGlobe Aviation over the classification of aircraft generators imported for use in IndiGo aircraft. It held that generators used with turboprop and turbofan gas turbine engines cannot be classified as equipment used with spark-ignition or compression-ignition internal combustion engines, meaning they attract 18% IGST under the classification claimed by...

Mandarin (Kinow) Concentrate Classified As Residual Citrus Entry For Duty, Not Orange Juice: CESTAT Mumbai

On 8 May, the Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that Mandarin (Kinow) Frozen Concentrate falls under the residual entry for “juice of any other single citrus fruit” under Tariff Item 2009 3900 and not under the “orange juice” category under Tariff Item 2009 1100, thereby upholding the higher rate of customs duty. President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar upheld the Revenue's classification and sustained the duty...

Customs Cannot Deny Interest On Refunds By Calling Applications “Incomplete”: CESTAT Mumbai

On 8 May, the Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that customs authorities cannot delay refund claims for years and later deny statutory interest by calling them “incomplete”. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati ruled that interest under Section 27A of the Customs Act, 1962 becomes payable three months after the refund application is filed, even if the department later raises deficiency memos or seeks additional...

CESTAT Ahmedabad Sets Aside Customs Duty On Shipping Corporation, Says HPCL Certified Diesel Duty Paid

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Ahmedabad, has partly allowed an appeal filed by The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd., setting aside the duty demand on diesel oil supplied to a vessel. The tribunal held that the Commissioner (Appeals) erred in rejecting a certificate issued by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) certifying the supply as duty paid, without assigning any cogent reason. A bench of Judicial Member Dr. Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha set aside...

CESTAT Bangalore Holds Aerosol Generator Not Controlling Device, Allows ITC Appeal Against Higher Duty

The Bangalore Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 30 April held that no higher customs duty is payable on the imported “Monodisperse Aerosol Generator”, and set aside the Department's demand for differential duty along with interest and penalty. The Division Bench comprising Judicial Member P.A. Augustian and Technical Member Pullela Nageswara Rao was hearing ITC Limited's appeal against an order of the Commissioner (Appeals), which had upheld reclassification of...

Cut, Curved Molybdenum Sheets Are Finished Articles; CESTAT Delhi Upholds Higher Customs Duty On Siria Impex

Molybdenum sheets that are cut, curved and shaped for use in automobile lighting cease to be “sheets” and become finished articles, the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi has held.A bench of Judicial Member Dr. Rachna Gupta and Technical Member Hemambika R. Priya delivered the ruling.The tribunal allowed the department's appeals against Siria Impex Private Limited and restored the demand of differential duty along with the penalty. The dispute arose from...

CESTAT Delhi Orders Interest Payable On ₹113.69 Crore Deposited By Nikon India During Supreme Court Appeal

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Delhi, has ruled in favour of Nikon India in a customs dispute over import of digital cameras, holding that the Customs department must pay interest on Rs. 113.69 crore deposited under directions of the Supreme Court. A Bench of President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member Hemambika R. Priya held that once the Supreme Court directed refund of the amount with interest, the department was bound to follow that direction...

CESTAT Quashes ₹10.8 Crore Customs Duty Demand, Rejects Reliance On Wikipedia, Internet Material

The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Delhi, has set aside a Rs. 10.8 crore customs duty demand and penalties against a marble importer, finding that in this case the allegation of diversion of imported marble into the domestic market was based on Wikipedia and other internet material, as well as unproven third-party statements. The tribunal noted that the department had relied on “Wikipedia and other information available on the internet” to conclude that “Harmony...

CESTAT New Delhi Sets Aside Non-Cooperative Finding In Anti-Dumping Investigation Against Essilor

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, has set aside the finding treating Essilor Group as “non-cooperative” in an anti-dumping investigation on imports of semi-finished ophthalmic lenses from China, holding that such a finding was not justified. "The recommendation made by the designated authority for imposing anti-dumping duty on Essilor Group by treating it to be non-cooperative is not justified. It is, accordingly, set aside. The designated authority...